This invention relates to mounting fasteners for attachment between a supporting structure and a supported panel. More specifically, the invention relates to mounting fasteners which are also spacers for use between contoured surfaces of a supporting member and a supported panel.
One environment for the use of this invention is in automotive body paneling. Examples of the use of panel fasteners in the automotive industry are to secure door panels to the door structure or secure interior panels to the body structure. Such fasteners are attached to the backside of a panel, and they typically include caps or pins that extend through holes provided for that purpose in the sheet metal structure of the body.
The steel structural part of an automobile body is generally not flat, even in small areas. Similarly, the interior paneling mounted on the steel structure is not flat. Whenever curved or contoured surfaces are mounted with respect to each other, the spacing between them accordingly varies. Thus, the fastener systems that are used to mount a panel to a supporting structure must somehow accommodate the varying distances between panel and structure. A single size fastener will not fit all the appropriate attachment points.